Below you will find articles from our legal journals on a variety of pressing legal topics.
In recent years, a growing number of construction companies have established employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).1 The interest in an ESOP is often generated by the need for an exit strategy for one or more of the owners of a closely held...
When advocates for property owners take on an eminent domain case, they aim to achieve the best result possible for their clients. In some cases, that means fighting the taking. In other cases, the taking is inevitable, and the objective is to...
The rendering of a third-party legal opinion, like other attorney responsibilities in connection with closing a real estate secured finance transaction, involves professional liability risks.1 This article will discuss how an opinion preparer’s use...
Oregon and Washington are not alone in their desperate need for 550,0001 and 1,100,000 new housing units2 within the next 20 years, respectively. The entire nation continues to struggle with a lack of housing supply.3 Meanwhile, many...
When real property subject to condemnation is within an area of urban renewal2 or is underutilized, understanding the potential for a highest and best use that differs from a property’s current use, as of the date of condemnation, is critical. This...
The administrative process by which tribal nations obtain trust status for land to conduct off-reservation gaming or other activities has been criticized by some as cumbersome, lengthy, and overly burdensome.1 With recently implemented amendments...
This article will focus on how lawyers and appraisers can work together to tackle difficult appraisal problems that don’t lend themselves easily to a simple comparable sales approach or where such an approach requires larger adjustments than are...
It is axiomatic that “you can’t get the value right if you get the highest and best use wrong.”1 There may be no more fundamental concept in the valuation of property under the Fifth Amendment’s just compensation clause than that fair market value...
There are people who believe that zombies will take over the world one day. Today, however, digital information rules the world. In the United States and many other industrialized nations, almost all non-verbal communications (as well as notes and...